Manpreet Singh will lead India in the upcoming FIH Pro League matches against World No. 2 Australia, a 24-member team for which was announced by Hockey India on Tuesday.
Harmanpreet Singh will be the vice-captain in the matches, scheduled to take place on February 21 and 22 in Bhubaneswar.
The Indian team had posted a 2-1 win over World champion Belgium in the first Pro League match, while losing 2-3 in the second game.
“After having two high intensity matches against the world champions, we will be facing another strong team in Australia,” chief coach Graham Reid said. “We have again gone with a strong group of players who can provide us with a good balance throughout the field,” he added.
The squad:
P.R. Sreejesh, Krishan Pathak, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Harmanpreet Singh (vice-captain), Varun Kumar, Gurinder Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Akashdeep Singh, Sumit, Lalit Upadhyay, Gursahibjit Singh, Dilpreet Singh, S.V. Sunil, Jarmanpreet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma and Ramandeep Singh .